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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: perch · clip · bass · hand · roll · chest · staff · current

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. clip — for paper
  6. current — electric
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bass — low music
  9. clip — to cut
  10. roll — a list
  11. chest — of your body
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. staff — employees
  14. current — happening now
  15. staff — employees
  16. staff — a stick
  17. clip — a video
  18. roll — a cake
  19. current — of water
  20. bass — the fish
  21. hand — help
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. roll — on a roll

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com